Not A Saguaro?

If you have a cactus plant and need help identifying it, this is the place to post it.
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tumamoc
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Re: Not A Saguaro?

Post by tumamoc »

greenknight wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 10:52 pm Saguaros cuttings are difficult to root, while the species is easily grown from seed, so cuttings are rarely seen.
I agree. A rooted saguaro cutting is virtually unheard of. Besides, the original growth looks like a nice little tapered spear, indicative of a young seed grown plant. Back in the day, Tanque Verde Greenhouses sold a lot of saguaros and none of them looked like cuttings (their holdings were bought out by B&B Cactus Farm about 10 years ago, and they now use the property as an off-site nursery).

I think there was some trauma to the tip of this plant. dhsmusic, do you have any photos of this cactus before it started growing?
samhain
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Re: Not A Saguaro?

Post by samhain »

greenknight wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 10:52 pm Saguaros cuttings are difficult to root, while the species is easily grown from seed, so cuttings are rarely seen.
I think that’s a myth to keep poachers at bay. Seems like every story is successful.
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DaveW
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Re: Not A Saguaro?

Post by DaveW »

As said, we don't grow many Carnegia's in the UK, and they are from seed. Therefore, I am not that conversant with actually rooting them. However, in theory all cacti can be rooted from cuttings, but it often depends on whether they dry up and whither before rooting due to loss of moisture. Obviously, cacti and succulents ought to be better off in this respect since the initially contain more water.

Those who have rooted cactus cuttings, or re-rooted plants that have lost their roots, know the plants can often just sit there doing nothing for a year or even two before rooting. The problem is how fast they dehydrate before doing so, meaning the microclimate they are kept in whilst trying to root may affect this.

As my knowledge of Saguaro's and re-rooting is lacking, I did a Web Search and found this, along with quite a few saying they are impossible to root from cuttings.

https://cals.arizona.edu/OALS/urbanization/saguaro.html

Probably the truth is Saguaro's are very reluctant or slow to root from cuttings and the smaller cutting the more chance it will dry up before rooting. Some sites put rooting Saguaros as a 50%/50% chance of being successful. Also, many people may not have the patience to wait a couple of years for it to root and bin it before them. Certainly not a commercial proposition for nurserymen rooting small cuttings.
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mikethecactusguy
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Re: Not A Saguaro?

Post by mikethecactusguy »

Since it is a Saguaro remember they are very slooooow growing. Based on the size of the new section the damage to the plant probably occurred 25 yrs ago. As for rooting there is a 99% chance it will never happen. Saguaro can go for years without roots before dying. When mature plants get moved from location to another there is a caveat by the mover that there is a 50% chance it will not root in its new spot. I have not heard of a saguaro rooting and then actually growing. only that they appear to have rooted but 5 years later they just die.
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